Family miss easyJet flight in 'absolute nightmare' after luggage row at Bristol Airport

Andrew Shaw, partner Amy Morgan, and their two children spent 12 hours at the airport waiting for a flight to Barcelona (Image: Adrian White)

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A Christmas holiday abroad turned into an "absolute nightmare" for a family after they missed a flight due to a row over luggage at Bristol Airport.

Mum-of-two Amy Morgan travelled from Bristol Airport to Barcelona with easyJet to spend Christmas there with her family.

Amy and partner Andrew Shaw, 40, from Swansea, Wales, stayed at a hotel near the airport the night before their December 20 flight along with their children, aged one and four.

They were due to meet her brother, his wife, and their three children the next day when they would all fly to Spain for a holiday.

Wales Online reports how the 36-year-old claimed delays at check-in caused her to miss her flight, which her luggage was loaded onto, despite her and her family arriving at the airport more than an hour before departure.

The family had travelled from Wales to Bristol Airport as part of their Christmas getaway

She said: "We booked an early flight and had two small children so stayed nearby overnight so we could make it to our flight in ample time.

"We arrived to the airport at 5.50am and our flight was at 7.15am but when we got there the queue was huge with self-service the only option.

"It took considerable time to reach a self-serve kiosk – the queue took forever."

Ms Morgan said she had paid for additional sports luggage for snowboarding but the self-service kiosk reportedly did not recognise it.

She added: "We had considerable difficulty trying to get the labels printed (for sports luggage) and we asked for help repeatedly.

"In the meantime our normal luggage had been sent to the plane."

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Ms Morgan claims she was then sent to the sports luggage desk where they would not accept the luggage without the labels. She said they were then sent to the customer service desk.

"By the time I pushed in at customer service it was 6.50am and I was told the gate had been closed. We were then sent to main customer service," she said.

"During this time there were no calls for the flight to Barcelona or for customers to come forward in the queue – literally nothing.

"I'm guessing as our normal luggage had been scanned the system assumed we were on our way."

Ms Morgan explained the problems her family encountered at the previous kiosks to customer service but was told there was no way they could get on the plane.

Meanwhile her family's regular luggage was aboard the aircraft.

A spokeswoman from easyJet was said staff "did everything possible to assist Ms Morgan" but acknowledged they had "insufficient time" to reach their gate in time. (Image: Bristol Live)

Amy said: "I was panicking because the luggage had our children's Christmas presents in it.

"My brother (whose family had made the flight) informed me they had him trying to identify my luggage delaying the flight by nearly 40 minutes – surely it would have been easier to let us on and print two sports labels."

When Amy went to ask for an update on her luggage she said she was told the flight had left with the luggage on and that there was a "miscommunication".

She said: "At this point there was not a lot we could do. We had no clothes to be able to change the kids and we were stuck at the airport for 12 hours.

"I had to pay £440 for additional flights later that day as we were in a large party going on a family holiday.

"I was with my one and four-year-olds and trying to keep them entertained was a nightmare. It was quite possibly the worst day of my life.

"We were in the departure room all day and weren't accommodated for. We had the kids and they were so frustrated. It was heartbreaking really. We arrived in Barcelona at about 10.10pm.

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"Due to having to buy new flights and landing out of car hire hours we had the added stress of having to rearrange our car hire too which was a palaver in itself.

"All this stress and heartache could have been avoided."

A spokeswoman from easyJet was said staff "did everything possible to assist Ms Morgan" but acknowledged they had "insufficient time" to reach their gate in time.

She said: "We are sorry Ms Morgan and her family missed their flight as a result of them arriving at the airport with insufficient time to get to the gate in time.

"We ask all passengers to arrive at the airport two hours before scheduled departure and to be at the gate at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure so we can get all passengers to their destinations on time.

"We did everything possible to assist Ms Morgan, and her family, including arranging alternative travel later that day for them.

"Some of their bags travelled on their original flight along with the rest of their group and were looked after by our team in secure storage at Barcelona Airport for them to collect on arrival later that day."

A spokesman from Bristol Airport said: "Passengers are advised to allow sufficient time to complete essential processes including bag drop, check-in, security and boarding.

"We recommend arriving at the airport a minimum of two hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time."